he government has revised its budget for the  rst phase of Macau’s future light rail transit system to

MOP11 billion (US$1.4 billion). That represents a 47 per- cent increase from the previous 2009 budget, according to the Transportation Infrastructure Of ce. The amount doesn’t include the two transport inter-

change facilities to be built in Taipa and Barra, estimated to have a combined cost of MOP2.3 billion. The initial budget of the project, in 2007, was

MOP4.2 billion.

Macau to sign pacts on money laundering prevention

Macau’s Financial Intelligence Of ce is set to sign several agreements with counterparts from Asia to boost the exchange of  nancial intelligence. The goal is to prevent and to  ght against cross-border money laundering and terrorist  nancing. Agreements will be signed with Singapore’s Suspicious Transaction Reporting Of ce, the Japan Financial Intelligence Centre and the Bank Negara Malaysia. A similar agreement will also be signed with Thailand’s Anti-Money Laundering Of ce.

Young people not keen on work competition: survey

A survey conducted last month by the Macau New Chinese Association shows that the majority of young workers do not want competition from non-locals and are not willing to look for job opportunities outside of the SAR. According to the  ndings, 43 percent of the interviewees opposed importing more quali ed workers to Macau. Even so, half of the respondents said they are con dent enough that they can compete with them for jobs. More than half of the respondents (57 percent) also said they are not considering working outside of Macau, including on Hengqin Island. Finally, almost two thirds (64 percent) said they “feel pressure of competition” in their work or study environment. The survey interviewed 829 residents with an age range between 18 and 45 years.

JULY 2011

Light rail transit system to cost MOP11 billion, up by 47 percent over last estimation The government explains the increase as being due to

the rising currency exchange and continued optimisation and adjustments of route designs. The budget was also impacted by in ation, namely the rising costs of labour and materials, according to the Transportation Infrastructure Of ce. The government expects the construction of the  rst

phase of the rail transit system to kick off later this year, with trains starting to receive passengers by early 2015. The  rst phase of the project will connect Macau, Taipa and Cotai and include a total of 21 stations.

Boosting co-operation with Fujian

Macau and Fujian have decided to start holding regular high-level of cial meetings to boost bilateral co-operation. Macau will also establish a liaison of ce in Fujian. These were the major outcomes of chief executive Fernando Chui Sai On’s last month three-day trip to Fujian. Mr Chui told reporters that an of cial meeting to seek ways to better work out the implementation of such co-operation will soon be held. Regarding co-operation on tourism, Mr Chui said that using Macau as the trading service platform, Macau and Fujian would jointly promote its tourism attractions to Portuguese-speaking countries.